Farley Kaiser

Senior Director of Culinary Innovation at McLane Company

Judge

Chef Farley Kaiser is Senior Director of Food and Beverage for McLane Company, one of the largest distributors in America serving convenience stores, mass merchants, and chain restaurants. Farley leads a team focused on developing innovative programs for quality food service in convenience stores. Her strategic vision and culinary skills have been instrumental in reshaping the c-store food landscape, most recently through launches of McLane Fresh and McLane’s Innovation Kitchen—McLane’s innovative retail foodservice program featuring high-quality, fresh food and beverage brands with on-trend products for all dayparts that can be customized for retailers of any size. Farley has more than 25 years of experience in the culinary industry. As a chef educator for more than 10 years, including a role as Culinary Department Chair at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, she mentored aspiring chefs and played a role in helping them start their own journey into the culinary industry. Farley jumped into the world of research and development as the corporate executive chef for Buffalo Wild Wings where she focused on core menu item optimization as well as innovative LTO development for the national brand. She then joined the team at Wawa where she was introduced to convenience store processes launching many menu items over the years. After managing food and beverage for GetGo she then headed to McLane’s headquarters in central Texas, where she resides with her family. Outside of her professional achievements, Farley is a dedicated wife and mother of three, a passionate chef, teacher, and speaker. She’s also a crafting enthusiast and an avid lover of the outdoors, often found cheering on her kids at their sports events. Farley’s commitment to culinary excellence and innovation has made her a respected figure in the industry, driving the evolution of the culinary industry in the U.S.